3. “My grandmother was a real lady,” Langer said on the project’s Tumblr.

“I don’t remember a time when her hair and nails weren’t done and she wasn’t dressed impeccably. In the last year of her life she, like many others in her condition, lost the ability to walk without support. And although she had a strong will to live, the idea of using a walker in public seemed unbearable to her. The force of her vanity had come up against the limit of the body.”

4. Langer suggested to her grandmother that they bedazzle her walker but her grandmother didn’t like the idea.

9. Langer, along with Agar—who has done other conceptual and portraiture work—are planning more shoots in this series including a model with a punk walker.

10. “The moment Elana mentioned it to me, I could just imagine this world,” Agar told BuzzFeed, “where all these people were walking around with blinged out walkers, just rocking it down the street. And having hearing aids be just as beautiful as earrings.”

“It felt like a celebration of life instead of a reminder of what we lack. I love creating photographs that have a deeper message than just being a pretty picture, which was why this project really spoke to me.”

11. The allure of a fancy walker was clear when they were shooting part of the series at a unisex salon in Red Hook, Brooklyn.

See more about Elana Langar’s projects here, and click here to see more of Hanna Agar’s photography. And if you or someone you love are interested in a special order walker or hearing aid, contact Elana at freedom@whatiliveby.com.

correction

A previous version of this article said the decorated devices were not for sale, but has been corrected.